Senior Director, Technology Client Services
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The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the University''s good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.
Position Summary
Reporting to the Executive Director of Information Technology, the Senior Director of Technology Client Services is the senior operational and strategic leader for all client-facing technology support at Columbia Business School. The Senior Director will lead the team through a period of change: redesigning the support model, building the team and culture to deliver it. The right candidate brings both the change management instincts to modernize a legacy operation and the steady-state leadership to run a high-performing client services function over the long term. This role calls for a clear vision of what excellent, modern technology support looks like, paired with the management depth to build toward it deliberately and sustainably. The Senior Director serves as a senior member of the CBS IT leadership team.
About CBS
For over a century, Columbia Business School has helped develop leaders and builders of enterprises who drive value for their stakeholders and society at large through our MBA, MS, PhD, and Executive Education programs. We are equally committed to cultivating new scholars and teachers, and to creating and disseminating pathbreaking knowledge, concepts, and tools that advance the understanding and practice of management through our faculty research and PhD programs. Our vision is simple: to develop ideas and leaders that transform the world - from the very center of business. Our ever-evolving curriculum, featuring pioneering courses, STEM certification, and immersive experiential learning, prepares students to excel in key areas such as digital transformation, entrepreneurship and innovation, twenty-first century finance, the intersection of business and society, and climate and sustainability.
Responsibilities
Service Model Transformation
Designs and implements a modern, tiered client services model that sequences support across self-service resources, AI-assisted chat, live human support, and ticketed escalation - reducing friction for clients and improving resolution rates at every level.
Assesses current tools, workflows, and platforms; defines the target-state architecture; and lead the transition from current to future state with minimal disruption to ongoing operations.
Establishes and track service level objectives, client satisfaction metrics, and team performance standards that reflect the new model and drive continuous improvement.
Partners with the Executive Director and school leadership to ensure the client services strategy aligns with the School''s broader IT transformation agenda and technology roadmap.
Team Leadership and Organizational Development
Leads, develops, and manages a team of professionals across faculty, administrative, and student support; academic and multimedia technologies; and event technologies - providing clear direction, accountability, and investment in staff growth.
Builds management capability within the team, ensuring leads have the tools, structure, and support to run their areas effectively.
Drives the cultural shift from a reactive support orientation to a proactive, service-excellence model - setting high expectations while bringing the team along through significant change.
Academic and Multimedia Technologies
Oversees academic technology operations across all classroom and conference room spaces, ensuring technology infrastructure supports the School''s instructional needs reliably and at scale.
Manages multimedia services, including the School''s broadcast studio, ensuring quality and responsiveness to faculty and programmatic needs.
Stays current on emerging academic technologies and serve as a thought leader on their application in a professional school environment.
Vendor and Asset Management
Manages vendor relationships for client services tools and contracted support, including evaluation, performance specifications, service level agreements, and issue resolution.
Oversees the technology asset lifecycle across the client services portfolio, including deployment, inventory, refresh planning, and disposal.
Ensures risk management and enterprise architecture standards are followed for all vendor engagements, in coordination with CUIT and school IT leadership.
Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor''s Degree required. Minimum of 7-9 years progressive experience in IT client services or end-user support, including at least 5 years in a management role with direct responsibility for teams and service delivery.
Demonstrated experience designing or significantly redesigning a client services or help desk operation, including implementation of tiered support models and service management platforms.
Strong people leadership skills, including experience managing teams through organizational change.
Familiarity with modern support tooling, including ITSM platforms, AI-assisted support tools, and self-service knowledge base systems.
Excellent communication skills and the ability to engage effectively with faculty, students, senior administrators, and technical staff.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience in higher education or a similarly complex, multi-constituency environment.
Familiarity with academic technologies, classroom AV systems, and multimedia production environments.
ITIL certification or equivalent service management framework experience.
Experience managing through reorganization or significant workforce transition.
Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran
Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.